In today’s world, it is crucial for us Christian child-rights and community development workers to understand the Bible’s message and apply it to our work and our lives. We cannot allow ourselves to live in the era of our ancestors and interpret the bible literally.
Lingap and its project partners agreed to learn together and review how its community developmnt work will be related and guided by what the bible is saying especially about women and children. For example, we heard some of our church leaders citing this verse challenging our discussion on children’s rights and child protection.
“Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” – Proverbs 13:24 (NIV)
This verse emphasizes the importance of discipline in raising children, suggesting that a lack of discipline can be harmful to children in the long run. However, it is important to note that discipline does not necessarily mean physical punishment, and there are many ways to teach and guide children that do not involve hitting or spanking.
Also, there are church partners who would ask how we will marry our work to uphold women’s rights with this Bible verse
Ephesians 5:22 which states:
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands…” Often this is taken out of context.
The Bible in Context Orientation Workshop was organized to orient our partners especially church leaders and workers engaged in our Church Community Mobilization work on the Scriptures. The workshop aimed to describe the understanding and importance of the Bible in doing God’s ministry to the people and express commitment to study regularly the Word of God. Participants also prepared a plan of action to live out the Bible’s message in today’s context.
The one-day workshop was divided into three sessions, starting with the community-building activities of praise and prayer. Then there was the Orientation and Expectation Check, where participants were introduced to the workshop’s objectives and leveled off on what to expect. Bishop Francisco Aviso, Jr of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines facilitated the opening session and the second session.
The second session, On Bible, emphasized the importance of understanding the Bible’s background, including its history and literary styles. Participants were encouraged to learn about the Bible’s purpose, the authors’ intentions, and the cultural contexts in which it was written. Discussed also were the Books and Writers of the Bible. Participants were taught about the various books of the Bible, their genres, and their authors. They were also informed about the Bible’s languages, the differences between the Old and New Testaments, and the Bible’s canonization process.
The third session was dedicated to Interpreting the Bible with Pastora Pau Capacete facilitating. Participants were enlightened about why it is essential to interpret the Bible and the challenges of interpreting it. They learned about the factors that cause problems in biblical interpretations, including the third-party perspective, language gap, differences in worldview and culture, historical gaps, and the existence of multiple texts of the same documents.
The workshop was an eye-opener for many participants, especially concerning the interpretation of biblical texts. For instance, participants discussed 1 Corinthians 14:34, which states, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.” Participants were educated on the need for exegesis, which involves a careful historical, literary, and theological analysis of a text, and hermeneutics, which is the art and science of biblical interpretation.
The workshop highlighted that hermeneutics is needed to overcome four barriers caused by our distance, namely, time distance, cultural distance, language distance, and ideological distance. In terms of cultural distance, participants learned about the patriarchal and authoritarian social structures, the dominant agricultural and village-based economic system, and the primitive medical arts during biblical times.
The workshop ended with a plan of action to live out the Bible’s message in today’s context. Participants expressed their commitment to studying the Word of God regularly and to apply its teachings in their daily lives especially in our community development work.